Field of the Invention
This invention relates to landscaping equipment and, more particularly, to a portable piece of equipment made up of a blower assembly on a wheeled frame.
Background Art
Blower assemblies have been commonly incorporated into wheeled frames to define portable units that are used to distribute loose material on subjacent terrain. Typically, such landscaping equipment has a rear handle assembly with one or more gripping members that can be engaged by a user to apply forces to maneuver the unit. Front and rear, laterally spaced wheel pairs, or a tricycle wheel arrangement, support the unit and facilitate advancement thereof over the supporting subjacent surface.
The blower assembly that is incorporated into the wheeled frame has a fan assembly that is rotated by a drive, that most commonly is a gas operated engine. A housing defines a chamber within which the fan assembly operates and has an associated conduit at which pressurized air generated through the fan assembly is discharged in an air stream that exits in a generally straight flow pattern.
A common blower assembly design has a fixed discharge conduit orientation which causes the pressurized air to exit laterally, which is generally orthogonal to the normal fore-and-aft travel path utilized by most users. Users of this type of unit, while treating a substantial areal extent, normally take the same approach. That is, the user will advance the unit in a first straight line which causes material to be propelled by the pressurized air stream to one side. To progressively shift the loose material to the same one side, the user will repeatedly move the unit in parallel lines, while maintaining the orientation of the unit as the loose material progressively accumulates further to the one side. Some users choose to travel every other linear path portion by drawing the unit backwards. By reason of the fixed configuration, the user experiences limitations as to how he/she can efficiently treat a large areal space, and often resorts to inconvenient movements, such as the reverse drawing of the unit, described above.
While some units incorporate the ability to reconfigure the blower assembly so that the discharge direction for the pressurized air supply is changed, these structures are generally of a nature that this process is not capable of being performed easily and quickly. The user may have to repeatedly release the handle and walk around the unit to make an adjustment. To avoid this inconvenience, and in the interest of saving time, users may often decide not to take advantage of an adjusting capability and operate the unit in a single state while contending with the problems and inconveniences, some of which are noted above.
These shortcuts may prompt the user to operate the equipment in a manner whereby the overall quality of the ground treatment is compromised.
In spite of the fact that the blower technology in the agricultural area has been evolving for many decades, the above problems are contended with to this day. Blower assembly designs do not exist that are adequately versatile, practical to use, and affordable to those individuals and businesses that utilize this type of equipment.